


In the Quiet

by HeroSavesPeople



Category: The Flash (TV 2014), westallen
Genre: Angst, F/M, Pining, Poor Barry :(, Romance, Season 1-WA, a lil bit of steam?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 11:02:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18409304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeroSavesPeople/pseuds/HeroSavesPeople
Summary: Barry escapes for a quiet moment, but his thoughts are anything but as he thinks about the one thing that's always on his mind. Or rather, the one person.





	In the Quiet

He lets out a heavy sigh, tilting his head back on his chair as he slumps down in his seat.  Closing his eyes, he hopes the dull ache in his head will abate—he certainly didn't need to add to the ache in his chest as his mind flickers to…well, what it always does.

Iris.

It had been an hour since he got back from dinner with her and he still couldn't stop thinking about her.  They were going to catch a movie after dinner and head back to Joe's for the night, but when he looked into her eyes as she stood under the lamplight outside, he felt that familiar ache in his chest.

That longing and yearning and pure and unadulterated love he's had for her since the day he met her.  And then there was the way she looked at him.  She had looked at him with those beautiful, sparkling eyes and he could have sworn in that moment, they were in love.  He could have sworn there was something that spoke of hidden yearning just underneath the surface and he had been dangerously close to kissing her passionately.  It was exactly why he had to beg off from the movie and make up an excuse to head back to work.  He had mumbled something about Singh texting him about paperwork that needed to be turned in by the end of the night.

He left her looking befuddled and concerned as he scrambled away, his heart thumping in his chest.  He waited until he rounded the corner before using his speed to get away as fast as he possibly could.

He squeezes his eyes shut, but it does nothing as the image plays out in his mind.  The soft tunes of a song come on from the radio on his desk.

_Cause I wanna be yours, babe_

_Cause I wanna be yours, babe_

_I don’t know what to do, I don't know where to go._

He could see himself let his fingers glide into the soft strands of her curls, let them get lost as he pulls her closer.  He'd feel her warm breath on his chilled lips and know it was only a matter of time before he'd feel the softness of hers upon him, warming his skin and setting his body ablaze.

He clenches his eyes shut as the guilt from his fantasies pool in his stomach, but there was so much more that he was feeling in his gut.  She was better than a lovesick boy's fantasies, but still, his wayward thoughts were shoved to the forefront against his will.

_What I crave is some of your attention_

_Did I mention, you are just perfection?_

_All I want is your attention_

_Tonight_

He thinks of how he'd want nothing more than to take her hands in his, softly kissing each of them before gliding along her arm and nuzzling her shoulder, taking in the scent of her.  That breath of lavender that never fails to trigger his amygdala that any time he smelled it, even if she wasn't near, he thought of her. 

He can almost hear her soft gasp at his touch, her breath shaky.  " _Barry_ ," she whispers in his ear.  Her hand comes up to cup his neck as his lips mouth at her throat.  

He remembers a night when he had fallen asleep on her shoulder after a movie marathon. It was days after the anniversary of his mother's death and while the tears had long since dried, that dark cloud remained and Iris could see it. Without drawing attention to his despondent mood, she simply pulled him down on the couch with her, his favorite movies already queued up and a pint of chocolate chip cookie dough at the ready.

It wasn't long before he succumbed to the emotional exhaustion though and ended up in her arms with droopy eyes. He could barely concentrate on her arms around him and the feel of her shoulder against his cheek, but when he came to in the middle of the night, suddenly it was all he could feel.

At some point they shifted enough that Barry ended up lying partially over her at an awkward angle, his face buried in her neck. His lips tingled with the sensation of her warm, soft skin and his heart ached as he thought how he'd love nothing more than to remain in her safety.

He conjures up the memory of how the skin of her neck felt against him, imagining how he'd taste it with purpose if he ever got the chance. Not just rely on the traces on his lips, but to let his taste buds ingrain her flavor to his memory. Let it lie flat against her warmth as he dragged it across the column of her neck until he reached the softness behind her ear. He would feel her pulse thrumming just underneath her jaw, racing in time to her heartbeat that he'd feel against his own.

His breathing escalates as he thinks about finally feeling the touch of her lips upon his. What would she taste like? It couldn’t be much more different than the taste of her neck. But then maybe it would taste like whatever she had eaten moments before. Chocolate from brownies she was always making or sugar from the cronuts she recently became obsessed with.

His muscles tensed as he became lost in thought that he barely registers the knock on the door.

“Barry?”

His heart leaps in his throat as his eyes snap open. Iris walks in with a concerned look on her face.

He quickly sits up in his seat and scoots closer to his desk. “I-Iris. Hey, what are you doing here?”

“Just checking in. You kind of left in a hurry and I don’t know, I got the feeling something was up.”

He looks away and fiddles nervously with the stray papers on his desk. “No, I’m ok. Just busy with work is all.”

She slowly walks closer until she’s leaning against his desk beside him. He can feel her eyes on him and he wonders if she can feel the heat radiating from him because suddenly he was conscious of how hot his neck felt.

He jerks at her touch when she places the back of her hand against his forehead.

“Barry, you feel a kind of feverish. Are you coming down with something?”

 _Yeah, humiliation_ , he thinks. God, he couldn’t believe he was caught fantasizing by the very subject of his fantasies. Then again, it wasn’t as though it was a new experience. Even so, it was never fun getting caught.

He gently pulls away from her touch and finally looks up at her with a weak smile. “Um, yeah, maybe.”

Iris stands back up and starts organizing the papers on his desk before picking up his bag.

“Um, what are you doing?” Barry asks baffled.

She simply looks down at him expectantly. “We’re going home, Bar. Singh has no right to make you work on paperwork well past your shift when it’s not even an emergency. We can catch the movie another time, but tonight, we’re Netflix and chilling.”

He must have looked even more flustered and startled at that because she rolls her eyes.

“Not that kind, don’t worry. Kids these days, they gotta ruin innocent phrases.” She scrunches up her nose in thought before conceding, “Then again, our generation isn’t any better. Come on, Bar.”

She hikes his bag onto her shoulder and holds out her hand. He looks at it for what seems like a long moment as he contemplates. He wasn’t sure it was a good idea to be in her presence at the moment, but looking up at her determined face, he thinks this is probably a battle he wasn’t going to win. When it comes to Iris, he was hopeless.

He quickly puts on his coat before grabbing her hand. “Ok,” he mumbles, taking his bag from her shoulder.

She smiles brightly in reply before bouncing toward the door, dragging him along. The flutter in his stomach reappears but instead of filling him with dread, he feels just a little lighter. While it was true that hiding his feelings for Iris while being so close to her was excruciating, he would never trade in the precious moments with her and if he had the opportunity to create more with her, then he would take it.

He’d be ok. He’s had years of practice and besides, it was just a movie. What could go wrong?

...right?

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys like this and would love to hear your thoughts! Also, highly recommend checking out the song "I Wanna Be Yours" by Abroad. Gave me such season 1 WA vibes and that's how this fic came about.


End file.
